Assassin's Creed Valhalla Will Have Almost No Side Quests

The Assassin's Creed series has always been filled with side quests to complete alongside the main storyline, and these have grown especially prominent in the recent role-playing games like Origins and Odyssey. For Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, however, Ubisoft has completely changed its approach to side quests. In fact, they aren’t really in the game at all.

Speaking to GameSpot just before Ubisoft Forward, narrative director Darby McDevitt explained that “world events” are included in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but the traditional side quest is “almost nonexistent.” There are longer story arcs to complete as part of the main questline, but extra activities you complete will happen more spontaneously and won’t necessarily be quests you have to seek out.

This approach was chosen to fit the narrative, as the protagonist Eivor arrives in England as an invader rather than a native. Having quest-givers left and right would not make sense, as you’re still actively trying to make alliances.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla will release on November 17 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. It will also launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but those consoles' release dates have yet to be confirmed.

Valhalla was among the games featured during Ubisoft Forward. Just prior to the event, Ubisoft announced it would not address abuse allegations during the show.